Jessica is a Rockford native and resides in the Northwest side of town with her husband, Kristopher, and children Adam and Ava.

Since 2009, Jessica has worked at Rasmussen College-Rockford Campus. She began with the organization as a Student Finance Advisor and has transitioned in various other positions, most recently being promoted to Career Services Advisor.

In August 2011, Jessica completed her Master’s of Arts in Organizational Leadership. She earned her undergraduate degree at Judson University in Business Management.

Outside the academic realm, Jessica enjoys cooking, working out and spending time with her family. Jessica currently sits on Alignment Rockford’s Career Awareness Team, Rockford Public Library Trustee, Rockford Chamber’s IGNITE EDUCATE Committee, Rosie’s Birthday Club’s Board, and serves as an Ambassador for Rockford Health Systems. Previously, Jessica sat on United Way’s Success by 6 Advisory Board and IGNITE’s Leadership Board.

How did you end up getting involved with Alignment Rockford?

I had the pleasure of being invited to be part of Alignment Rockford’s Career Awareness Team by former Executive Director Laurie Preece. I began participating as a member in February 2012.

Can you explain how the Career Awareness team started and how it has evolved?

This team was created to help provide community support with addressing career awareness in the classroom for grades K-12. The group first focused on how to effectively expose freshman to the academies in order to help them choose which academy they would select. This evolved to an expo that now has attracted Belvidere, Hononegah & Harlem School districts. The second focus is on the capstone project for high school seniors.

Can you describe the team’s most recent initiatives and how they will impact career readiness for RPS students?

It is very exciting to have had the opportunity to see the Academy Expo go from planning to pilot to the massive event it is today. This event has impacted EVERY SINGLE freshman student for the last three years for Rockford Public Schools District #205, for Belvidere School District #100 for the last two years and this year Hononegah and Harlem school districts. We are currently in the piloting stages of the capstone project. I will be very excited to see the impact of this!

In your opinion why is community involvement in these initiatives important for Rockford?

As a Rockford native, I have seen first-hand the negative perception of education in my city. I am a graduate of Rockford East High School, a product of the public school district. It is up to me (and everyone else in the community) to support positive changes of Rockford Public Schools District #205.